Sterilizer

ABSTRACT

A sterilizer according to the present invention comprises: a temperature-raising module for heating a carriage introduced thereinto; a sterilization module for sterilizing the carriage transferred from the temperature-raising module; a cooling module for cooling the carriage transferred from the sterilization module; and an opening-closing module connected to the temperature-raising module, the sterilization module, or the cooling module, to selectively open or close at least one module, and the sterilizer independently heat-treats a space separated by the opening-closing module.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a sterilizer that sterilizes productsloaded in a carriage.

BACKGROUND ART

Retort foods refer to foods that are formed by applying heat of a hightemperature to sealed food products, sterilizing them, and rapidlycooling them. A retort sterilizer is an apparatus that performs anoperation of applying heat of a high temperature to sealed productsduring a process of manufacturing retort foods.

Various methods have been applied to increase product productionefficiency by treating a plurality of products for a short time bysterilizing the products well.

A batch scheme of carrying out all treatment processes includingsterilization at once after loading products in carriage and introducingthe products into a sterilizer may be used. In this case, because heatefficiency is low, an additional heat treatment time is necessary, and adeviation occurs in distribution of heat so that heating cannot beuniformly.

A continuous scheme of treating products one by one in a separate spacewhile feeding the products continuously may be used. In this case, anentire length of the apparatus may become excessively large and thetreatment time may be adjusted only with movement speed, and it isdifficult to maintain and repair the apparatus due to a complexstructure thereof.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present disclosure has been made in an effort to solve the aboveproblems, and provides a sterilizer that sterilizes products loaded in acarriage in a batch scheme and a continuous scheme.

Technical Solution

A sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present disclosureincludes a temperature raising module that heats a carriage that entersan interior thereof, a sterilization module that sterilizes the carriagetransferred from the temperature raising module, a cooling module thatcools the carriage transferred from the sterilization module, and anopening/closing module connected to the temperature raising module, thesterilization module, or the cooling module, and that selectively opensand closes at least one thereof, and a space separated through theopening/closing module is independently heat-treated.

Advantageous Effects

Accordingly, the loaded products may be uniformly heated rapidly whileusing the carriage scheme.

The sterilizer may be easily maintained and repaired by moving thecarriage itself between the modules, and the modules may be separated tobe replaced or repaired when a significant repair is necessary.

Even though a facility in a specific module breaks down and a defect iscaused in the products, the problem occurs only in the correspondingmodule and the products located in the corresponding module and thus thenumber of wasted products may be minimized.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view obtained by cutting a side surface of a housing of asterilizer in a longitudinal direction according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a view obtained by cutting an upper surface of a housing of asterilizer in a transverse direction according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating a portion of a housing, whichis opened, such that an internal structure of a sterilizer according toan embodiment of the present disclosure is exposed.

FIG. 4 is a front view in a state, in which an inlet door of asterilizer is positioned at an inlet opening location, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting a sterilizationmodule by a plane that is perpendicular to an entrance direction, in asituation, in which a carriage reaches a rotation part of a sterilizer,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a rotation part of a sterilizer along arotational direction thereof according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view conceptually illustrating a structure of arotation part of a sterilizer according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an operation of applying a pressure suchthat a gripper pusher of a sterilizer grips a carriage according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a situation, in which a carriage isrotated by rotating a rotation part frame of a sterilizer according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting a transfer unit ofa sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular to an entrance directionaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view conceptually illustrating a form, in which atransfer unit of a sterilizer is connected to a rotation part frame,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating a seating transfer member of a sterilizeraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting a seating transfermember of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular to a rotationaldirection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting a transfer memberholder of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular to an entrancedirection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting a transfer memberholder of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular to a rotationaldirection according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting an intermediatedoor part of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular to arotational direction in a state, in which an intermediate door isdisposed at an opening location, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting an intermediateopening/closing part of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular toan entrance direction according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting an intermediateopening/closing part of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular toa vertical direction according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 19 is a view conceptually illustrating an intermediate door part ofa sterilizer in a state, in which an intermediate door is disposed at aclosing location, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting an intermediateopening/closing part of a sterilizer by a plane that is perpendicular toa rotational direction in a state, in which an intermediate door isdisposed at a closing location, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a sterilization housing according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

MODE FOR INVENTION

This application claims the benefit of priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2020-0026233, filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Mar. 2, 2020, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the exemplary drawings. Throughoutthe specification, it is noted that the same or like reference numeralsdenote the same or like components even though they are provided indifferent drawings. Further, in the following description of the presentdisclosure, a detailed description of known functions and configurationsincorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matterof the present disclosure rather unclear.

In addition, terms, such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the likemay be used herein when describing components of the present disclosure.The terms are provided only to distinguish the components from othercomponents, and the essences, sequences, orders, and the like of thecomponents are not limited by the terms. When it is described that oneelement is connected, coupled, or electrically connected to anotherelement, the element may be directly connected or coupled to the otherelement, but a third element may be connected, coupled, or electricallyconnected between the elements.

FIG. 1 is a view obtained by cutting a side surface of a housing 12 of asterilizer 1 in a longitudinal direction according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a view obtained by cutting an uppersurface of the housing 12 of the sterilizer 1 in a transverse directionaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is aconceptual view illustrating a portion of the housing, which is opened,such that an internal structure of the sterilizer according to anembodiment of the present disclosure is exposed.

Referring to the drawings, the sterilizer 1 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure may include a temperature raising module 20, asterilization module 30, and a cooling module 40, and may furtherinclude an opening/closing module 50.

In the specification of the present disclosure, an entrance direction D1refers to a direction, in which a carriage “C” enters the sterilizer 1,and is a rightward direction of the corresponding drawing and a positivedirection in the illustrated x axis, as in arrows illustrating in FIGS.1 and 2 . The positive direction in the illustrated x axis may be aforward direction and a downstream direction along an entrance directionD1, and the negative direction may be a rearward direction and anupstream direction along the entrance direction D1.

In the specification of the present disclosure, the rotational directionis a direction corresponding to an axial direction of rotations of amovement part 13, a sterilization movement part 33, a transfer unit 70,a carriage seating part 353, and the like, which will be describedbelow, when they are rotated, and may be perpendicular to the entrancedirection D1 and may be a direction that is parallel to the illustratedy axis. Furthermore, the positive direction in the illustrated y axismay be a leftward direction, and the negative direction may be arightward direction.

Furthermore, the vertical direction may be an upward/downward directionillustrated in FIG. 1 , and may be a direction that is perpendicular tothe above-described rotational direction and the entrance direction D1and may be a direction that is parallel to the illustrated z axis. Theupward direction may be the positive direction of the z axis and thedownward direction may be the negative direction of the z axis. Adirection, in which the gravitational force is applied to an object, maybe a vertically downward direction, and an opposite direction theretomay be a vertically upward direction. However, this is arbitrarily setto help understanding and description, and the directions are relative,and may vary according to directions and postures, in which thesterilizer 1 is arranged.

The housing 12 of the sterilizer 1 may include a temperature raisinghousing 22 that is the housing 12 of the temperature raising module 20,a sterilization housing 32 that is the housing 12 of the sterilizationmodule 30, and a cooling housing 42 that is the housing 12 of thecooling module 40, and the housings 12 are connected to each other toconstitute the entire housing 12. Although it is illustrated in anembodiment of the present disclosure that the temperature raising module20, the sterilization module 30, and the cooling module 40 are disposedalong the entrance direction D1, but the disposition sequence and thenumber of the modules are not limited thereto and various combinationsare possible.

The temperature raising housing 22 may define an outer wall of atemperature raising space 21 located in an interior thereof, thesterilization housing 32 may define an outer wall of a sterilizationspace 31 located in an interior thereof, and the cooling housing 42 maydefine an outer wall of a cooling space 41 located in an interiorthereof. Accordingly, the housing 12 may physically separate asterilizer space 11 located in an interior thereof and an exteriorspace, and the sterilizer space 11 may include the temperature raisingspace 21, the sterilization space 31, and the cooling space 41.

The modules are modules that apply at least a heat treatment to aproduct loaded in the carriage “C”, and thus may correspond to acarriage treating module 10. A carriage space “C” located in an interiorof the carriage treating module 10 may be formed inside the housing 12.The carriage space may include the sterilizer space 11. That is, thetemperature raising module 20, the sterilization module 30, and thecooling module 40 may be referred to as the carriage treating modules10, the temperature raising space 21, the sterilization space 31, andthe cooling space 412 may be referred to as the carriage spaces, and thetemperature raising housing 22, the sterilization housing 32, and thecooling housing 42 may be referred to as the carriage housings 12.

In this way, the carriage treating modules 10 may be provided whilebeing separated from each other such that the carriage “C” itself may bemoved between the modules, and through this, the sterilizer 1 may beeasily maintained and repaired and the carriage treating modules 10 maybe separated to be replaced or repaired when an important repair isnecessary.

Furthermore, even though equipment of a specific carriage treatingmodule 10 breaks down and a defect is caused in the product, a problemmay be caused only in the corresponding carriage treating module 10 andthe product located in the corresponding carriage treating module 10,and thus the number of wasted products may be minimized.

The carriage “C” that may enter the sterilizer, be treated, and bedischarged is the carriage “C”, in which the product is loaded. Aplurality of products, which are seated after foods to be treated arecontained therein, may be loaded in the carriage “C”, and the carriage“C” itself may enter the sterilizer 1 to be treated.

Opening/Closing Module 50

FIG. 4 is a front view in a state, in which an inlet door 512 of thesterilizer 1 is positioned at an inlet opening location, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 , the sterilizer 1 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure may include the opening/closing module 50. Theopening/closing module 50 may include an inlet door part 51 and anoutlet door part 52 disposed at an inlet 511 of the sterilizer and anoutlet 521 of the sterilizer, respectively. The inlet 511 of thesterilizer may be an inlet of the module located on the rearmost side,and the outlet 521 of the sterilizer may be an outlet of the modulelocated on the foremost side.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, because the inlet door part51 is disposed on the rearmost side and the outlet door part 52 isdisposed on the foremost side, the inlet door 512 is disposed at aninlet of the temperature raising module 20 that is the inlet 511 of thesterilizer, and an outlet door 522 is disposed at an outlet of thecooling module 40 that is the outlet 521 of the sterilizer. However, thekinds of the modules, to which the doors are connected, are not limitedthereto, and may vary according to disposition of the modules.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the inlet door 512 mayselectively open and close the inlet of the temperature raising module20 that is the opening located on the rear side of the temperatureraising space 21 and is the inlet 511 of the sterilizer such that thetemperature raising space 21 and an outside of the temperature raisingmodule 20 are communicated with each other. The outlet door 522 mayselectively open and close the outlet of the cooling module 40 that isthe opening located on the front side of the cooling space 41 and is theoutlet 521 of the sterilizer such that the cooling space 41 and anoutside of the cooling module 40 are communicated with each other.

Configurations of the inlet door 512 and the outlet door 522 are thesame but only the locations thereof are different, and thus adescription of the outlet door 522 will be replaced by describing theinlet door 512.

The inlet door 512 may be moved upwards and downwards to be disposed atthe inlet closing location and the inlet opening location. The inletclosing location refers to a location, at which the inlet door 512 mayclose the inlet of the temperature raising module 20.

The inlet opening location refers to a location of the inlet door 512,at which the inlet door 512 may open the inlet of the temperatureraising module 20, and in an embodiment of the present disclosure,refers to a location, at which the inlet door 512 deviates from theinlet closing location vertically upwards.

The opening/closing module 50 may include door supports 513 located onthe left and right sides of the inlet door 512 such that the inlet door512 may be moved from the inlet closing location to the inlet openinglocation. The door support 513 may be formed like a bar that stands upon a ground surface. Furthermore, the inlet door part 51 may include adoor carriage 514 connected to the door support 513 to be slid, andconnected to the inlet door 512. That is, when the door carriage 514connected to the inlet door 512 is slid upwards and downwards along thedoor support 513, the inlet door 512 may be moved to the inlet closinglocation or the inlet opening location. The door carriage 514 may be ablock that has a roller or a caster to be slid along a rail formed inthe door support 513 or may be a block that is screw-coupled to a leadscrew formed along the door support and may be moved along a verticaldirection, but a driving scheme therefor is not limited thereto.

To transfer a driving force to the door carriage 514, the sterilizer 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further includean inlet driving device 61. The driving force generated by the inletdriving device 61 may be transferred to the door carriage 514 through apower transmission element, such as a chain, or may be transferred tothe door support 513 that supports the door carriage 514 to move theinlet door 512. To move the outlet door 522, an outlet driving device 67is applied, and only a location of the outlet driving device 67 isdifferent but the outlet driving device 67 performs the same function.

As the inlet door 512 positioned at the inlet closing location is movedto the inlet opening location, the carriage “C”, in which the product isloaded, may enter the sterilizer space 11 through the inlet of thetemperature raising module 20. After the carriage “C” enters thesterilizer space 11, the inlet door 512 located at the inlet openinglocation may be moved to the inlet closing location to close the inletof the temperature raising module 20.

The opening/closing module 50 may further include an inlet contactmember that pushes the inlet door 512 toward the inlet of thetemperature raising module 20 to make contact the inlet door 512 withthe inlet of the temperature raising module 20 when the inlet door 512is located at the inlet closing location for closing the inlet of thetemperature raising module 20. The inlet contact member may be ahydraulic cylinder, to which the inlet door 512 and opposite ends of thedoor support 513 are connected, but the kind thereof is not limitedthereto. The inlet contact member may press the inlet door 512 to afront side to make contact the inlet door 512 with the temperatureraising housing 22 that defines the inlet of the temperature raisingmodule 20, but a pressing direction thereof is not limited thereto.

The inlet door 512 may have a shape, a central area of which protrudestoward an outside. The inlet door 512 may have the shape, and a portionof the temperature raising housing 22 that surrounds the inlet of thetemperature raising module 20 may be inserted into a concave inner sideof the inlet door 512 such that a sealing state may be maintained wellwhen the inlet door 512 is pressed by the inlet contact member afterbeing moved to the inlet closing location.

The opening/closing module 50 may further include an inlet air-seal thatis located on a surface of the inlet door 512, which faces thetemperature raising module 20 when the inlet door 512 is located at theinlet closing location. The inlet air-seal may be expanded as air isinjected thereinto to contact the temperature raising housing 22 of thetemperature raising module 20 so as to maintain the sealing state of thetemperature raising space 21. As the inlet air-seal is expanded by theintroduced air, a space defined between the inlet of the temperatureraising module 20 and the inlet door 512 may be effectively closed. Theinlet air-seal may have an annular shape to correspond to the shape ofthe inlet of the temperature raising module 20.

Temperature Raising Module 20 and Cooling Module 40

The temperature raising module 20 and the cooling module 40 is elementdisposed on a rear side and a front side of the sterilization module 30in an embodiment of the present disclosure. However, as described above,the dispositions and the numbers of the temperature raising modules 20and the cooling modules 40 are not limited thereto.

The temperature raising module 20 may raise temperature and the coolingmodule 40 may perform a cooling operation. Accordingly, the heattreating device of the temperature raising module 20 may be atemperature raising/heat-treating device 26, and the heat treatingdevice of the cooling module 40 may be a cooling/heat-treating device46. The temperature raising/heat-treating device 26 may be a kind of aheat treating device that is directed to increasing the temperatures ofthe temperature raising space 21 and the carriage “C”, in which theproducts located in the temperature raising space 21 are loaded, orallowing the temperatures to reach a specific temperature, and thecooling/heat-treating device 46 may be a kind of a heat treating devicethat performs an opposite function to that of the temperatureraising/heat-treating device 26, of absorbing heat from the coolingspace 41 and discharging the heat to the outside. Accordingly, atemperature of the product located in the carriage “C” that passesthrough the temperature raising module 20 may be increased, and atemperature of the product loaded in the carriage “C” that passedthrough the cooling module 40 may be decreased.

Media such as water for heat transfer may be filled in the temperatureraising space 21 or the cooling space 41 of the temperature raisingmodule 20 and the cooling module 40. Heated hot water may be filled inthe temperature raising module 20, and cooled cold water may be filledin the cooling module 40. However, vapor instead of hot water may beused as the thermal medium in the temperature raising module 20, andrefrigerant instead of cooling water may be used as the thermal mediumin the cooling module 40.

Accordingly, the temperature raising/heat-treating device 26 or thecooling/heat-treating device 46 may include elements, such as a nozzle,a sprinkler, a showerhead, for filling water into a space in a scheme,such as ejection, and the temperature raising module 20 or the coolingmodule 40 may include an element, such as a valve, for discharging waterfilled in the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41.However, the elements of the temperature raising/heat-treating device orthe cooling/heat-treating device, which are provided to fill anddischarge water, are not limited to the above-described elements, andmay be other mechanical elements. An ejection hole of the nozzle mayface a lower side, and the ejection hole may be formed to face anotherarea of an inner wall thereof. Furthermore, the ejection holes may beformed to face the carriage on the left and right sides of the carriage“C”.

The temperature raising module 20 or the cooling module 40 may furtherinclude a recirculation pipeline (not illustrated) to recirculate athermal medium, such as water flowing up in the temperature raisingspace 21 or the cooling space 41. The recirculation pipeline may beconfigured such that one end thereof is connected to be adjacent to alower end of the housing 12 and an opposite end thereof is connected tobe adjacent to an upper end of the housing 12, and may include a pumpthat compresses the thermal medium to pump the thermal medium so as toreceive water that flows up in the temperature raising space 21 or thecooling space 41 and eject the water from the corresponding space to thecarriage “C” again. Furthermore, the opposite end of the recirculationpipeline may be connected to a heat treating device, and the heattreating device may eject the re-circulated thermal medium.

The temperature raising module 20 or the cooling module 40 may providethe air, a temperature of which has been changed via the rising thermalmedium, to the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41. Anair providing valve (not illustrated) that provides air to thetemperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41 is connected to alower side of the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41such that the air passes through the hot water or the cold water and isdelivered to the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41.Accordingly, because the air is heated by the hot water and is providedto the temperature raising space 21 or the air is cooled by the coolingwater and is provided into the cooling space 41, the air may have atemperature that is different from that of the thermal medium filled inan interior of the carriage “C” when the air reaches the carriage “C” toprevent a situation, in which the products loaded in the carriage “C”are unevenly heated or cooled, and uniformly heat the products.

The temperature raising module 20 or the cooling module 40 may furtherinclude a vapor provider (not illustrated) on a lower side of thehousing 12 to provide vapor to a thermal medium located on a lower sideof the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41. As thevapor is supplied to the thermal medium accommodated on the lower sideof the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41, atemperature of the thermal medium provided to the carriage “C” throughthe heat treating device and a temperature of the thermal mediumaccommodated to the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41may be adjusted to be similar to each other.

The temperature raising module 20 or the cooling module 40 may furtherinclude an exhaust valve (not illustrated) that releases pressure toprevent the temperature raising space 21 or the cooling space 41 fromexcessively rising to a high pressure and maintain the pressure at aproper pressure level such that the exhaust valve passes through thehousing 12. An internal pressure may be controlled by opening andclosing the exhaust valve, and may be adjusted to the proper pressurelevel when the internal pressure becomes abnormal.

The temperature raising module 20 and the cooling module 40 may furtherinclude the movement part 13 for moving the carriage “C” that enters thetemperature raising space 21 and the cooling space 41. The movement part13 may move the carriage “C” at least from the temperature raising space21 to the cooling space 41 via the sterilization space 31.

The movement part 13 may include a heating movement part 23 disposed inthe temperature raising space 21, the sterilization movement part 33disposed in the sterilization space 31, and a cooling movement part 43disposed in the cooling space 41.

The heating movement part 23, the sterilization movement part 33, andthe cooling movement part 43 may be divided by intermediate door parts53, which will be described below, and may be spaced apart from eachother forwards and rearwards. The sterilization movement part 33 mayinclude the sterilization movement part 33 and the carriage seating part353, such that they may be spaced apart from each other forwards andrearwards. The sterilization movement part 33 in turn may include afirst connection unit 331 and a second connection unit 332 such thatthey are spaced apart from each other forwards and rearwards withrespect to the carriage seating part 353.

Because the movement parts 13 thereof are spaced apart from each otherforwards and rearwards, areas, in which the carriage “C” is notsupported, are formed between the movement parts 13. An interval betweenthe movement parts 13 of the sterilizer 1 according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be smaller than a forward/rearward width ofthe carriage “C”. Preferably, a distance, by which the plurality ofwheels included in the carriage “C” are spaced apart from each other,may be smaller than the interval between the movement parts 13 such thata palette of the carriage “C”, in which the products are loaded, ismoved forwards. Because the interval between the movement parts 13 isdetermined in this way, a situation, in which the wheels of the carriage“C” are inserted into the spaces between the movement parts 13 such thatthe carriage “C” cannot be moved, may be prevented.

Each of the movement parts 13 may include movement rollers that arerotated while a rotational direction thereof is taken as an axialdirection thereof. In detail, each of the movement parts 13 may includea plurality of movement rollers, and a movement belt that surrounds theplurality of movement rollers and is rotated as the movement rollers arerotated. Accordingly, the belt that is moved forwards as the movementrollers are rotated may move the carriage “C” seated on the movementbelt forwards. However, configurations of the movement part 13 are notlimited thereto.

To drive the movement rollers, the sterilizer 1 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may further include a movementdriving device. The movement driving device may be disposed on anoutside of the housing 12, and may generate a driving force and maytransfer the driving force to the movement part 13 through anotherelement. The movement driving device may include a heating movement partdriving device 62 that generates a driving force for the heatingmovement part 23, a cooling movement part driving device 66 thatgenerates a driving force for the cooling movement part 43, and a firstconnection driving device 63 and a second connection driving device 65,which will be described below.

To transmit the driving force generated by the movement driving device,a movement transferring unit 70 is disposed. The movement transferringunit 70 is an element that passes through the housing 12 to transfer thedriving force from the movement driving device to the movement part 13as the movement part 13 is disposed in an interior of the housing 12.The movement transferring unit 70 may include one or more shaft members,gears, and a belt or a chain that connects the gears.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the carriage “C” thatentered the temperature raising space 21 may be transferred to theheating movement part 23 that is a kind of the movement part 13, and maybe disposed at a specific location in the temperature raising space 21by an operation of the heating movement part 23 including a temperatureraising rollers 231 that are a kind of movement rollers and atemperature raising belt 232 that is a kind of a movement belt, in astate, in which the carriage “C” is seated on the heating movement part23. A temperature raising/transfer unit 70 that is a kind of themovement transferring unit 70 may transfer the driving force of theheating movement part driving device 62 to the heating movement part 23.The temperatures of the products loaded in the carriage “C” are raisedby the temperature raising/heat-treating device 26 included in thetemperature raising module 20. The temperatures of the products may beraised to a sterilization temperature that is a predeterminedtemperature for carrying out sterilization. After the temperatures ofthe products are raised, an intermediate door 533 a of a rearintermediate door part 53 a that is an intermediate door part 53 locatedon a rear side of the sterilizer may be moved from the closing locationto the opening location. The heating movement part 23 may be operatedsuch that the carriage “C” enters the sterilization space 31 from thetemperature raising space 21.

The carriage “C”, in which the products treated by the sterilizationmodule 30 have been treated, and which will be described below, isdischarged to the cooling space 41. An intermediate door 533 b of afront intermediate door part 53 b may be moved from the closing locationto the opening location, and the carriage “C” may be disposed from thesterilization space 31 by an operation of the second connection unit 332and enter the cooling space 41.

The products loaded in the carriage “C” that entered the cooling space41 are cooled by the cooling/heat-treating device 46 of the coolingmodule 40. After the cooling operation is finished, the outlet door maybe moved from the door closing location to the door opening location,and the carriage “C” may be discharged to an outside of the sterilizer 1by an operation of the cooling movement part 43. Thecooling/heat-treating device 46 may receive the carriage “C” from thesterilization module 30 in a state, in which a temperature of thecooling space 41 is adjusted to a sterilization temperature that is atemperature used for sterilization in the sterilization module 30, toprevent damage to the products due to an abrupt temperature differencewhen the carriage “C” is transferred to the cooling module 40.

Sterilization Module 30

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the sterilizationmodule 30 by a plane that is perpendicular to the entrance direction D1,in a situation, in which the carriage “C” reaches a rotation part 35 ofthe sterilizer 1, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 6 is a view illustrating the rotation part 35 of the sterilizer 1along a rotational direction thereof according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 7 is a perspective view conceptuallyillustrating a structure of the rotation part 35 of the sterilizer 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a viewillustrating an operation of applying a pressure such that a gripperpusher 3522 of the sterilizer 1 grips the carriage “C” according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8 , the carriage “C” that entered thesterilization space 31 is transferred to the carriage seating part 353located on an upstream side of the carriage seating part 353 withrespect to the entrance direction D1. The above-described shape anddriving scheme of the movement part 13 may be applied to the shapes anddriving schemes of the second connection unit 332 and the carriageseating part 353 located on the downstream sides of the first connectionunit 331 and the carriage seating part 353, but because the carriageseating part 353 and a connection scheme of a seating driving device 68that transfers the driving force thereto are slightly different, thedescription thereof will be replaced by the existing description andonly the differences will be described below in a description of FIG. 10.

The driving force that is necessary for an operation of the firstconnection unit 331 may be provided by the first connection drivingdevice 63 included by the movement driving device, and the driving forcethat is necessary for an operation of the second connection unit 332 maybe provided by the second connection driving device 65 included by themovement driving device. The first connection transfer unit 70 and thesecond connection transfer unit 70 that pass through the housing 12, andconnect the first connection unit 331 and the second connection unit 332to the first connection driving device 63 and the second connectiondriving device 65, respectively, may transfer the driving force to thefirst connection unit 331 and the second connection unit 332.

The first connection unit 331 and the second connection unit 332 arelocated on an outside of a contour drawn when a rotation part frame 351is rotated. That is, the first connection unit 331 and the secondconnection unit 332 are disposed at locations that do not interfererotation of the rotation part frame 351. Contours of perfect circlesdrawn when the rotation part frame 351 is rotated are illustrated in thedrawings obtained by viewing the sterilizer 1 along a rotationaldirection. Accordingly, the rotation part 35 may rotate the carriage “C”without any collision due to interferences.

The carriage “C” may reach the rotation part 35 due to an operation ofthe first connection unit 331. The rotation part 35 is an element thatgrips the carriage “C” and rotates the carriage “C” about a rotationaxis of the carriage “C”, which is parallel to the rotational direction,and may include the rotation part frame 351, a rotation gripping part352, and the carriage seating part 353.

The rotation part frame 351 is an element that rotates the grippedcarriage “C” about the same direction by rotating the carriage “C” aboutthe rotation axis. The rotation part frame 351 may rotate the carriage“C” such that the thermal medium is uniformly ejected to the carriage“C”. The rotation part frame 351 may include a frame horizontal-member3511 manufactured by connecting members that extend in left/rightdirections and forward/rearward directions that are parallel to ahorizontal surface, and a frame vertical-member 3512 that extend alongthe upward/downward directions, and may constitute a rectangularparallelepiped frame, into which the carriage “C” may be introducedforwards. However, a shape of the rotation part frame 351 is not limitedthereto.

Because the rotation part frame 351 constitutes the frame of therotation part 35, the rotation gripping part 352 and the carriageseating part 353 are connected to the rotation part frame 351 and thetransfer unit 70, which will be described, also are connected to therotation part frame 351 such that the rotation part frame 351 is rotatedabout the rotation axis of the carriage.

The rotation gripping part 352 is an element that approaches thecarriage “C” to grip the carriage “C” that entered the rotation part 35or is spaced apart from the carriage “C”. The rotation gripping part 352is connected to an upper side of the rotation part frame 351 at a basiclocation, at which the carriage seating part 353 is disposed to beparallel to the entrance direction D1.

The rotation gripping part 352 is supplied with a working fluid, and isoperated by a pressure thereof. The working fluid may be oil or air, andthus the rotation gripping part 352 may be operated by a hydraulicpressure or a pneumatic pressure. To supply the working fluid to therotation gripping part 352, the transfer unit 70 may include a workingfluid delivering element 73. The working fluid delivering element 73 andthe rotation gripping part 352 are connected to each other through agripper line (not illustrated) whereby the working fluid fed from theoutside of the housing 12 into the housing 12 by the working fluiddelivering element 73 may be provided to the rotation gripping part 352through the gripper line. A detailed description of the working fluiddelivering element 73 will be made in the description of FIG. 10 .

The rotation gripping part 352 is configured to approach the carriage“C” to grip the carriage “C” that entered the rotation part frame 351when receiving the working fluid, and to be spaced apart from thecarriage “C” to release the gripping of the carriage “C” whendischarging the working fluid.

In detail, the rotation gripping part 352 may include the gripper pusher3522 that employs a scheme of pressing the carriage “C” for gripping.However, the rotation gripping part 352 may further include a memberthat grips the carriage “C” or performs a portion of a process ofgripping the carriage “C” like a member that is coupled to a portion ofthe carriage “C” to fix a relative location of the carriage “C” withrespect to the entire rotation part 35.

The gripper pusher 3522 is moved downwards toward the carriage “C” whenthe working fluid is supplied. The moved gripper pusher 3522 presses thecarriage “C” downwards to grip the carriage “C”. The gripper pusher 3522may have a shape that may cover an upper end of the carriage “C” torestrain the carriage “C” from deviating from the gripper pusher 3522when the carriage “C” is pressed. Accordingly, the gripper pusher 3522,as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8 , may have a “U” shape that is openedtoward a lower side when being cut by a plane that is perpendicular tothe rotational direction. In other words, the gripper pusher 3522 mayhave an inverse “U” shape or an arch shape.

The rotation gripping part 352 may include a pusher cylinder 3524 thatlinearly moves the gripper pusher 3522 along a vertical direction suchthat the gripper pusher 3522 moves downwards to press the carriage “C”.When the working fluid is supplied to the pusher cylinder 3524, thepusher cylinder 3524 may be expanded to move the gripper pusher 3522downwards, and when the working fluid is discharged from the pushercylinder 3524, the pusher cylinder 3524 may be contracted to move thegripper pusher 3522 upwards.

The rotation gripping part 352 may further include at least one pusherguide 3521 which is coupled to the frame horizontal-member 3511 includedin the gripper frame to be slid, and a lower end of which is coupled tothe gripper pusher 3522 whereby the gripper pusher 3522 is linearlymoved without being shaken, is seated in the carriage “C”, and pressesthe carriage “C” downwards. The gripper pusher 3522 may be supportedagainst the gripper frame at a location, at which the plurality ofpusher guides 3521 are spaced apart from each other. The pusher guide3521 may be inserted into a through-hole formed in the gripper frame tobe slid downwards when the pusher cylinder 3524 is expanded, and to beslid upwards when the pusher cylinder 3524 is contracted.

The rotation gripping part 352 may further include an auxiliary pusher3523 that further presses an upper surface of the carriage “C” toeffectively grip the carriage “C”. The auxiliary pusher 3523 may belocated at a center of the gripper pusher 3522.

A location is indicated by a broken line in FIG. 8 when the gripperpusher 3522 is located at a basic location, and a location when thegripper pusher 3522 is moved downwards to press the carriage “C” isindicated by a sold line.

The carriage seating part 353 included in the rotation part 35 is anelement that is installed in the rotation part frame 351 and isconfigured such that the carriage “C” is seated thereon. The carriageseating part 353 is a kind of the movement part 13 like the onedescribed above, and may include seating rollers 3531 and a seating belt3532 similar to the above-described contents and may receive the drivingforce generated by the seating driving device 68 located on an outsideof the housing 12 through a seating transfer member 72 included in thetransfer unit 70 to be operated. The carriage seating part 353 may berotated such that a partial force for the carriage “C” is generated froman upper surface thereof to a front side to move the carriage “C” seatedon the upper surface forwards.

Because the carriage “C” is seated on the carriage seating part 353, thecarriage seating part 353 may support the carriage “C” when the gripperpusher 3522 presses the carriage “C”, and consequentially, may functionto press the carriage “C” together with the gripper pusher 3522 to gripthe carriage “C”. The carriage “C” may be supported by the carriageseating part 353 from a lower side, and be supported by the gripperpusher 3522 from an upper side to sandwich the carriage “C”therebetween.

The carriage seating part 353 may act as a resistance to movement of thecarriage “C”, and may be controlled not to be compulsorily rotated whilethe rotation part frame 351 is rotated so as to restrain movement of thecarriage “C” with respect to the carriage seating part 353 while therotation part frame 351 is rotated. The carriage seating part 353 may bemaintained in a stopped state, or may generate a resistance to rotationof the carriage “C”, which is generated in any direction due to theself-weight of the carriage “C”. To maintain the stopped state orgenerate the resistance, a brake that hinders movement of the seatingrollers 3531 or the seating belt 3532 may be further disposed in thecarriage seating part 353, and may be operated or stopped such that theseating driving device 68 generates a partial force in an oppositedirection to a direction, in which rotation is generated, to achieve theobject.

Because the carriage seating part 353 may act as a resistance tomovement of the carriage “C”, the carriage “C” may be prevented frombeing slid or deviating from the carriage seating part 353 while beingrotated in the same direction as that of the rotation part frame 351when the rotation part frame 351 is rotated.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a situation, in which the carriage “C” isrotated by rotating the rotation part frame 351 of the sterilizer 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The carriage “C” may be gripped well by the above-described operation ofthe carriage seating part 353 and the rotation gripping part 352, and arelative location thereof with respect to the rotation part frame 351may be fixed even while the rotation part frame 351 is rotated.

In a state, in which the carriage “C” is gripped by the rotationgripping part 352, the rotation part frame 351 may receive the drivingforce generated by a rotation driving device 64 through the transferunit 70, and may be rotated about the rotation axis of the carriage “C”.The rotation driving device 64 is located on an outside of the housing12, and functions to generate the driving force for rotating therotation part frame 351. The rotation part frame 351 may be rotated by360 degrees, and may perform a swing operation of being rotated from abasic location in one direction by a specific angle and then beingrotated from the basic location to an opposite direction to go to alocation, at which it is rotated by the specific angle.

The rotation part 35 may further include a rotation support part 354.The rotation support part 354 is an element that supports rotation ofthe rotation part frame 351 that is rotated about a rotational directionthereof. The rotation support part 354 may pass through a lower end ofthe sterilization housing 32 but may not be seated on a ground surface.The rotation support part 354 may include a rolling member that may berolled about the rotational direction, at an upper end thereof, whichentered the sterilization space 31, and the rolling member may contactthe rotation part frame 351. When the rotation part frame 351 isrotated, the rolling member that contacts the rotation part frame 351 isrotated, whereby the rotation support part 354 may support a load of therotation part frame 351 and guide rotation of the rotation part frame351.

A plurality of rotation support parts 354 may be provided, and may bedisposed at locations that are symmetrical to each other with respect tothe rotation part frame 351 such that the rotation part frame 351 issupported in a balanced way. In the drawings of an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, it has been described that a total of four rotationsupport parts 354 are spaced apart from each other along the entrancedirection D1 and the rotational direction and are disposed to besymmetrical to each other with respect to the rotation part frame 351,but the disposition thereof is not limited thereto.

The rotation part frame 351 may be rotated about the rotationaldirection, and a sterilization/heat-treating device 36 that is the heattreating device included in the sterilization module 30 may carry out aheat treatment at a sterilization temperature of a predeterminedtemperature. The sterilization/heat-treating device 36 may provide thethermal medium to the sterilization space 31 for the heat treatment. Asthe thermal medium is provided, the products loaded in the carriage “C”may be sterilized. The sterilization/heat-treating device 36 may bedisposed on an upper side of an inner surface of the sterilizationhousing 32, but a location thereof is not limited thereto. The thermalmedium may be hot water that is heated water, but other thermal mediamay be used.

Because the carriage “C” is heat-treated by applying the thermal mediumwhile being rotated, the products loaded in the carriage “C” may beheat-treated more uniformly as compared with a case, in which thecarriage “C” is heat-treated while the carriage “C” is stopped.

The sterilization/heat-treating device 36 that provides the thermalmedium to the sterilization space 31 is a kind of a heat treatingdevice. Accordingly, because the sterilization/heat-treating device 36may have configurations that are the same as or similar to those of thetemperature raising/heat-treating device 26 and thecooling/heat-treating device 46, which have been described above, thesterilization module 30 may have a recirculation pipeline, an airproviding device, a vapor providing device, and an exhaust valve,together with another carriage treating module 10, in the same way.Accordingly, in a description of the sterilization/heat-treating device36 of the sterilization module 30, only a difference from the carriagetreating module 10 will be described.

The sterilization/heat-treating device 36 may include a container havinga punched plate having a plurality of fine holes. The thermal medium maybe embedded in the container, and the embedded thermal medium may beejected to an outside through the holes of the punched plate toheat-treat the products loaded in the carriage “C”.

As the rotation part frame 351 is rotated, the elements connected to therotation part frame 351 also are rotated together. Accordingly, therotation gripping part 352 and the carriage seating part 353 that gripthe carriage “C” are rotated together.

After the heat treatment of the products loaded in the carriage “C” isfinished, the rotation and the heat treatment are ended. First, therotation part frame 351 returns to the basic location that is alocation, at which the carriage seating part 353 and the sterilizationmovement part 33 are arranged in parallel to each other. As the workingfluid is discharged from the rotation gripping part 352, the pressure isreduced, and the gripper pusher 3522 deviates from the carriage “C”upwards to release the gripping.

Thereafter, the carriage seating part 353 may be operated to feed thecarriage “C” to the second connection unit 332, and the secondconnection unit 332 may be operated to feed the carriage “C” to thecooling module 40 that is the next carriage treating module 10. When oneof the intermediate door 533 a of the intermediate door part 53, whichis located downstream side, is disposed at the closing location to blockthe carriage “C”, the intermediate door 533 a on the downstream side ismoved to the opening location in a state, in which the operation of thesecond connection unit 332 is stopped, to open the intermediate openingsuch that a state, in which the carriage “C” may be discharged from thesterilization space 31, is created, and then the second connection unit332 may be operated to feed the carriage “C” to the cooling module 40.

Meanwhile, the rotation part frame 351 is rotated about the rotationaxis of the carriage “C” that is parallel to the leftward/rightwarddirections, and has a perpendicular relationship with the entrancedirection D1 that is a direction, in which the carriage “C” enters therotation part frame 351. Accordingly, because a rotation transfer member71 and the like, which are provided to rotate the rotation part frame351, may be arranged along the leftward/rightward directions and may notbe parallel to the entrance direction D1, the entire sterilizer 1 mayshorten a length along the entrance direction D1.

Transfer Unit 70

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the transfer unit70 of the sterilizer 1 by a plane that is perpendicular to the entrancedirection D1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG.11 is an enlarged view conceptually illustrating a form, in which thetransfer unit 70 of the sterilizer 1 is connected to the rotation partframe 351, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 12is a view illustrating the seating transfer member 72 of the sterilizer1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13illustrates cross-section A-A′ of FIG. 12 , and is a cross-sectionalview obtained by cutting the seating transfer member 72 of thesterilizer 1 by a plane that is perpendicular to a rotational directionaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is across-sectional view obtained by cutting a transfer member holder 75 ofthe sterilizer 1 by a plane that is perpendicular to the entrancedirection D1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG.15 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the transfer memberholder 75 of the sterilizer 1 by a plane that is perpendicular to arotational direction according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

To grip the carriage “C” while the rotation part frame 351 is rotating,a pressure of the working fluid applied to the gripper pusher 3522 hasto be maintained, and the carriage seating part 353 has to apply aresistance to the movement of the carriage “C” to the carriage “C”. Apower transmitting structure that may be rotated relatively is suggestedin a form of the transfer unit 70 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure such that the elements may be operated while theconnected members are not twisted during the rotation.

The transfer unit 70 is a power transmitting structure of thesterilization module 30. The transfer unit 70 passes through thesterilization housing 32 to transfer the working fluid or the power fromthe outside of the sterilization housing 32 to an interior of thehousing 12. To minimize a size of the sterilizer space 11 in theinterior of the housing 12 and to dispose only a minimum number ofelements in the sterilizer space 11 that performs heat treatment, theelement that generates the driving force is disposed on an outside ofthe housing 12 and the transfer unit 70 passes through the housing 12.

The transfer unit 70 includes the working fluid delivering element 73that delivers the working fluid to the rotation gripping part 352, and arotation transferring member 71 that transfers the driving force to therotation driving device 64. The working fluid delivering element 73 andthe rotation transferring member 71 are disposed such that any one ofthem surrounds the other and they are rotated relatively. It isillustrated in an embodiment of the present disclosure that the rotationtransferring member 71 is formed in a form of multiple pipelinesdisposed on the outermost side, in a form, in which the rotationtransferring member 71 surrounds the working fluid delivering element73, but the disposition of the working fluid delivering element 73 andthe rotation transferring member 71 is not limited thereto.

The rotation transferring member 71 may be formed in a form of a pipe, acenter of which is opened. An outer rotation adapter 712 may be coupledto an area that is adjacent to an end of the rotation transferringmember 71 located on an outside of the housing 12. The outer rotationadapter 712 may be formed in a form of a disk or a saw-tooth, and a beltconnected to a driving shaft of the rotation driving device 64 may bewound on an outer peripheral surface of the outer rotation adapter 712such that the outer rotation adapter 712 may receive the driving forceof the rotation driving device 64. As the outer rotation adapter 712 isrotated, the rotation transferring member 71 may be rotated about therotation axis of the carriage “C”.

An end of the rotation transferring member 71, which is located in theinterior of the housing 12, may be coupled to the rotation part frame351. Accordingly, as the rotation transferring member 71 is rotatedabout the rotation axis of the carriage “C”, the rotation part frame 351is rotated. That is, the driving force of the rotation driving device 64is transferred to the rotation part frame 351, through the rotationtransferring member 71, to rotate the rotation part frame 351.

An inner rotation adapter 711 may be coupled to an area that is adjacentto an end of the rotation transferring member 71 located on an inside ofthe housing 12. The inner rotation adapter 711 is also formed in a formof a disk or a saw-tooth, and a belt for rotating the rotation partframe 351 and the like are coupled to an outer peripheral surface of theinner rotation adapter 711 to rotate the rotation part frame 351.

The transfer unit 70 may further include the seating transfer members 72that pass through the sterilization housing 32 and transfer the drivingforce generated by the seating driving device 68 to the seating rollers3531. The seating transfer members 72 may extend leftwards andrightwards, and may be surrounded by the rotation transferring member 71and may be disposed to be rotated relatively. Although it has beendescribed in an embodiment of the present disclosure that the seatingtransfer members 72 are inserted into a hollow formed at a center of therotation transferring member 71 and are rotated relatively, thedisposition of the rotation transferring member 71 and the seatingtransfer member 72 is not limited thereto.

The outer surface of the seating transfer member 72, as illustrated, mayhave a shape, in which protrusions having an annular shape and groovesthat are concaved in a radially inner side than the protrusions arealternately formed, as it goes to the left and right sides, in a partialarea thereof. The convexo-concave areas may be located at a portion ofthe seating transfer member 72, which is located on an inside of thehousing 12, and at a portion of the seating transfer member 72, which islocated on an outside of the housing 12. Due to the shape, even whenbeing connected to the housing 12 to be rotated, the seating transfermember 72 may be moved to the inside of the housing 12 or may not bemoved to the outside of the housing 12 to maintain a relative locationin relationship with the housing 12, according to the rotationaldirection.

An outer seating adapter 722 may be coupled to an end of the seatingtransfer member 72, which is located on an outside of the housing 12.The outer seating adapter 722 may be formed in a form of a disk, and abelt connected to a driving shaft of the seating driving device 68 maybe wound on an outer peripheral surface of the outer seating adapter 722such that the outer seating adapter 722 may receive the driving force ofthe seating driving device 68. As the outer seating adapter 722 isrotated, the seating transfer member 72 may be rotated about therotation axis of the carriage “C”.

An inner seating adapter 721 may be connected to an end of the seatingtransfer member 72, which is located on an inside of the housing 12. Theinner seating adapter 721 transfers the driving force to the seatingrollers 3531. Accordingly, as the seating transfer member 72 is rotatedabout the rotational direction, the seating roller 3531 is rotated. Thatis, through the seating transfer member 72, the driving force of theseating driving device 68 is transferred to the seating rollers 3531 torotate the seating rollers 3531.

The elements of the working fluid delivering element 73 may be formed inthe seating transfer member 72. The working fluid delivering element 73may include a working fluid line 731 that is a passage that passes theseating transfer members 72 leftwards and rightwards such that theworking fluid may flow through an interior thereof. That is, in anembodiment of the present disclosure, the working fluid line 731 is aslot formed in the seating transfer member 72. However, the workingfluid line 731 may be a separate pipe member.

A working fluid outlet may be provided. An inner working fluid outlet733 is an element, through which the seating transfer member 72 passesthrough the seating transfer member 72 from the working fluid line 731such that the working fluid is discharged to the rotation gripping part352. An outer working fluid outlet 713 is a hole that passes through aninside and an outside of the rotation transferring member 71. While therotation transferring members 71 are rotated relatively, the gripperline and the inner working fluid outlet 733 are communicated with eachother by the outer working fluid outlet 713.

A plurality of inner working fluid outlets 733 may be provided. Theplurality of outer working fluid outlets 713 may be configured tocorrespond to the number of the inner working fluid outlets 733. Thenumber of the working fluid lines 731 also may correspond to the numberof the inner working fluid outlets 733 such that the working fluid lines731 correspond to the inner working fluid outlets 733, respectively. Itis illustrated in an embodiment of the present disclosure that six innerworking fluid outlets 733 may be formed and a total of six outer workingfluid outlets 713 and a total of six working fluid lines 731 are formed,but the numbers thereof are not limited thereto, and their numbers maybe four as another example.

The plurality of inner working fluid outlets 733 may be formed on aspiral that is wound on an outer peripheral surface of the seatingtransfer member 72 along the rotational direction at a specificinterval. Although the inner working fluid outlet 733 may be disposedsuch that the adjacent inner working fluid outlets 733 have an includedangle of 45 degrees in a cross-section obtained by cutting the seatingtransfer member 72 by a plane that is perpendicular to the rotationaldirection, the included angle is not limited thereto. The plurality ofouter working fluid outlets 713 may be disposed on the outer peripheralsurface of the rotation transferring member 71 along the rotationaldirection at a specific interval, or may be disposed along the spiral inthe same way as that of the inner working fluid outlets 733.

The inner working fluid outlets 733 may be provided in an area, in whichthe above-described groove of the seating transfer member 72 is formed.Furthermore, the outer working fluid outlets 713 may be disposed in arecess that is formed on an inner surface of the rotation transferringmember 71, in which grooves are formed in a radially outward directionat a specific interval, to correspond to the area, in which the grooveof the seating transfer member 72 is formed. An annular passage may beformed in the area, in which the groove is formed, between the outersurface of the seating transfer member 72 and the inner surface of therotation transferring member 71 such that all of the inner working fluidoutlets 733 and the outer working fluid outlets 713 are communicatedwith the corresponding passages even though they are not aligned tocoincide with each other when the rotation transferring member 71 andthe seating transfer member 72 are rotated relatively. Accordingly, asituation, in which the working fluid may be delivered to the rotationgripping part 352, may be consistently maintained.

The working fluid delivering element 73 may include a working fluidinlet 732, through which the working fluid is introduced into theworking fluid line 731. The working fluid inlet 732 may be formed at anend of the seating transfer member 72, which is located on an outside ofthe housing 12. The working fluid inlet 732 may be provided in the area,in which the groove of the seating transfer member 72 is formed, may becommunicated with an outer inlet 751, and may receive the working fluidthrough a working fluid providing pipeline connected to the outer inlet751. That is, when the outer inlet 751 and the working fluid inlet 732are aligned with each other to be communicated with each other, theworking fluid providing pipeline may deliver the working fluid to theouter inlet 751 and the outer inlet 751 may deliver the working fluid tothe working fluid inlet 732 whereby the working fluid may finally reachthe working fluid line 731.

The transfer member holder 75 may be coupled to an end of the seatingtransfer member 72, which is located on an outside of the housing 12.The transfer member holder 75 may be coupled to the seating transfermember 72 in a form, in which the transfer member holder 75 surroundsthe seating transfer member 72. Accordingly, the seating transfer member72 may be coupled to the transfer member holder in a form, in which anend of the seating transfer member 72 is inserted into a space 752defined by the transfer member holder, and a shape of the inner surfaceof the transfer member holder 75 corresponds to a shape of the outersurface of the seating transfer member 72.

In detail, grooves recessed in a radially outward direction andprotrusions protruding further in a radially inward direction may beformed alternately leftwards and rightwards on the inner surface of thetransfer member holder 75, and the grooves of the transfer member holder752 may be disposed at a location corresponding to the groove of theseating transfer member 72, the outer inlet 751 may be disposed in thegroove of the transfer member holder 75, and the protrusions of thetransfer member holder 75 may contact the protrusions of the seatingtransfer member 72. Rotation of the seating transfer member 72 may bestably supported by disposing bearings between the contactingprotrusions.

The relationship is similar to shapes of the convexo-concave area of theseating transfer member 72 located on the inside of the housing 12, anda portion of the inner surface of the rotation transferring member 71that surrounds the area. Accordingly, the inner surface of the transfermember holder 75 and the outer surface of the seating transfer member 72contact each other, and are spaced part from each other in the area, inwhich the groove is formed, to form an annular passage. The annularpassage may be communicated by the corresponding passage even though allof the outer inlet 751 and the working fluid inlet 732 are not alignedwith each other when the seating transfer member 72 is rotated in astate, in which the transfer member holder 75 is fixed. Accordingly, asituation, in which the working fluid may be delivered to the workingfluid lines 731 may be consistently maintained.

The transfer member holder 75 is an element that fixes the seatingtransfer member 72 outside the housing 12. The outer inlet 751 may be anopening that is formed as the transfer member holder 75 that surroundsthe seating transfer member 72 and is coupled to the seating transfermember 72 passes therethrough from an inner side to an outer side. Theworking fluid inlet 732 also may be an opening that passes through theworking fluid line 731 and the outer surface of the seating transfermember 72. The working fluid providing pipeline (not illustrated) may beconnected to a working fluid source (not illustrated), in which theworking fluid is contained, may be connected to the outer surface of thetransfer member holder 75, and may provide the working fluid to theouter inlet 751 formed in the transfer member holder 75.

A plurality of working fluid inlets 732 may be provided, and may beconnected to the working fluid lines 731, respectively. The plurality ofouter inlets 751 may be configured to correspond to the number of theworking fluid inlets 732. In an embodiment of the present disclosure,because six working fluid lines 731 may be disposed, six working fluidinlets 732 and six outer inlets 751 may be provided, but the numbersthereof are not limited thereto, and their numbers may be four inanother example.

The plurality of working fluid inlets 732 may be formed on a spiral thatis wound on an outer peripheral surface of the seating transfer member72 along the rotational direction at a specific interval. Although theworking fluid inlet 732 may be disposed such that the adjacent workingfluid inlets 732 have an included angle of 45 degrees in a cross-sectionobtained by cutting the seating transfer member 72 perpendicularly tothe extension direction, the included angle is not limited thereto. Theplurality of outer inlets 751 may be disposed on the outer peripheralsurface of the transfer member holder 75 along the rotational directionat a specific interval, or may be disposed along the spiral in the sameway as that of the inner working fluid inlets 732.

Due to the above-described disposition, all of the working fluid inlets732 and the outer inlets 751 may be aligned with each other to becommunicated with each other when the seating transfer member 72 isdisposed at a specific location, and the working fluid may be deliveredto the interior of the housing 12.

When the rotation transferring member 71 is rotated to rotate thecarriage “C”, the carriage “C” has to be fixed to the seating transfermember 72 and thus is not rotated, whereby the rotation transferringmember 71 and the seating transfer member 72 may be rotated relatively.In this situation, due to the above-described structure, the workingfluid may be provided from the working fluid source to the working fluidlines 731, through the outer inlets 751 and the working fluid inlets732.

The transfer unit 70 may include a transfer part guide 74. When therotation transferring member 71 passes through the housing 12, thetransfer part guide 74 may be disposed between the housing 12 and therotation transferring member 71. Accordingly, the transfer part guide 74may be formed to surround a portion of the outer peripheral surface ofthe rotation transferring member 71. The transfer part guide 74 mayinclude a bearing that supports the rotation transferring member 71 onan inside thereof to support rotation of the rotation transferringmember 71, and may include a packing formed of a flexible material tomaintain an airproof state and a waterproof state, at a border of thetransfer unit 70 and the housing 12. Furthermore, the transfer partguide 74 may have a shape that extends by a specific length along therotational direction to support the rotation transferring member 71, andmay be coupled to the inner surface or the outer surface of the housing12 through a fastening member. Accordingly, a problem, such as a brakingor deformation that is caused when an excessively high load is appliedto the rotation transferring member 71 at a location, at which therotation transferring member 71 and the housing 12 meet each other, maybe prevented.

The transfer unit 70 may further include a transfer support member 76.Due to characteristics of the rotation part 35, by which the carriage“C” is seated and rotated, the rotation transferring member 71 may bedisposed at a location that is spaced apart from a ground surface at aspecific height. Accordingly, a structure for locating the rotationtransferring member 71, the seating driving device 68, and the like at aspecific height, and stably supporting them may be necessary, and thetransfer support member 76 may perform the function. The transfersupport member 76 may be located outside the housing 12 and may stand upon the ground surface to have a specific height, and the rotationtransferring member 71, the transfer member holder 75, the seatingdriving device 68, and the like may be seated on the transfer supportmember 76 to be supported.

The sterilizer 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay have the above-described transfer unit 70, and thus the pipelinesand the power transmitting structure may be rotated relatively withoutbeing twisted with each other, and the structures located in theinterior of the housing 12 may be rotated while locations of theelements that generate power are fixed to the outside of the housing 12.Accordingly, a configuration difficulty in installing the seatingdriving device 68 that generates power for rotating the carriage seatingpart 353 in the rotation part frame 351 and operating the seatingdriving device 68 may be solved. Furthermore, a configuration difficultyin installing a structure that controls the working fluid that is to besupplied to the rotation gripping part 352 in the rotation part frame351 may be solved.

Intermediate Door Part 53

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the intermediateopening/closing part 53 of the sterilizer 1 by a plane that isperpendicular to the rotational direction in a state, in which theintermediate door 533 a is disposed at an opened location, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectionalview obtained by cutting the intermediate door part 53 of the sterilizer1 by a plane that is perpendicular to the entrance direction D1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 18 is across-sectional view obtained by cutting the intermediateopening/closing part 53 of the sterilizer 1 by a plane that isperpendicular to a vertical direction according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 19 is a view conceptually illustrating theintermediate door part 53 of the sterilizer 1 in a state, in which theintermediate door is disposed at a closing location, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 20 is an enlarged detailedview of a portion of a cross-section obtained by cutting theintermediate opening/closing part 53 of the sterilizer 1 by a plane thatis perpendicular to the rotational direction in a state, in which theintermediate door 533 a is disposed at a closing location, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

The intermediate door part 53 is an element that is disposed in each ofthe front and rear sides of the sterilization module 30 to distinguishthe sterilization space 31 from the outside and selectively open andclose the entrance of the sterilization module 30 and has a curvedshape. Accordingly, a plurality of intermediate door parts 53 may beprovided. Although it is illustrated in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure that the sterilizer 1 has two intermediate opening/closingparts 53 a and 34 b, the number thereof is not limited thereto. Theopening/closing module 50 includes the intermediate door part 53.

The configuration of the front intermediate door part 53 b is disposedto be symmetrical to the rear intermediate door part 53 a with respectto the sterilization module 30 when viewed along the rotationaldirection, and thus they are very similar, and a description of a doorframe 531 b, the intermediate door 533 b, and a door guide 532 b thatare elements of the front intermediate door part 53 b will be replacedby a description of the rear intermediate door part 53 a.

The intermediate door part 53 may include a door frame 531 a, theintermediate door 533 a, and a door guide 532 a, and may be closed suchthat the carriage “C” cannot pass or opened such that the carriage “C”may pass due to the relative movements of the elements.

The door frame 531 a is an element that is a frame of the intermediatedoor part 53, which has an intermediate opening, through which thecarriage “C” may be introduced and extracted. The intermediate openingis an opening that is formed in the door frame 531 a to have a size thatis large enough such that the shape of the longitudinal section of thecarriage “C” may be included and may have a rectangular shape whenviewed from the front side, and the shape thereof is not limitedthereto. By the intermediate opening, the sterilization space 31 iscommunicated with the outside of the sterilization module 30. However,the outside of the sterilization module 30 does not mean the outside ofthe sterilizer 1. That is, the sterilization space 31 and thetemperature raising space 21 may be communicated with each other by theintermediate opening located on that rear side, and the sterilizationspace 31 and the cooling space 41 may be communicated with each other bythe intermediate opening located on the front side.

The movement part 13 may be divided with respect to the door frame 531a. The heating movement part 23 and the first connection unit 331 may bedivided with respect to the door frame 531 a located on the rear side,and the cooling movement part 43 and the second connection unit 332 maybe divided with respect to the door frame 531 a located on the frontside.

The intermediate door 533 a is an element, a location of which may bechanged as the intermediate opening formed in the door frame 531 a isclosed or opened. The intermediate door 533 a may be coupled to the doorguide 532 a connected to the door frame 531 a to be slid, and theintermediate door 533 a may be slid along the door guide 532 a to openand close the intermediate opening. That is, the door guide 532 a guidessliding of the intermediate door 533 a.

The door guide 532 a may include two door guide rails disposed to bespaced apart from each other leftwards and rightwards. Left and rightends of the intermediate door 533 a may be connected to the two doorguide rails that are spaced apart from each other to be slid, and theintermediate door 533 a may be slid along the door guide rails.

The intermediate door 533 a may be slid along the door guide 532 a to belocated at the opening location and the closing location. The openinglocation is a location, at which the intermediate door 533 a and thedoor guide 532 a are disposed in a relative relationship to open theintermediate opening, and the closing location is a location, at whichthe intermediate door 533 a and the door guide 532 a are disposed in arelative relationship to close the intermediate opening.

The door guide 532 a may guide the sliding of the intermediate door 533a such that a vertical height of the intermediate door 533 a when theintermediate door 533 a is disposed at the opening location is largerthan a vertical height thereof when the intermediate door 533 a isdisposed at the closing location. Furthermore, the door guide 532 a mayguide the sliding of the intermediate door 533 a such that the openingheight, by which an upper end and a lower end of the intermediate door533 a are spaced apart from the opening location upwards and downwards,is larger than the closing height, by which the upper end and the lowerend of the intermediate door 533 a are spaced apart from the closinglocation upwards and downwards.

The door guide 532 a may be formed to be gradually inclined as theintermediate door 533 a is moved from the closing location to theopening location. As in FIG. 1 , when the intermediate door 533 a islocated at the closing location in a situation, in which the sterilizer1 is viewed, a line connecting an upper end and a lower end of theintermediate door 533 a is a door orientation line. The door guide 532 amay have a structure that guides the intermediate door 533 a such thatan angle that is defined in a relationship of the door orientation linewith a horizontal plane as the intermediate door 533 a is moved from theclosing location to the opening location.

The intermediate door 533 a may have a shape, a center of whichprotrudes from the sterilization space 31 toward an outside. The profileof a cross-section obtained by cutting the door guide 532 a, as in FIG.16 , also may have a shape, a center of which protrudes from thesterilization space 31 toward the outside such that the intermediatedoor 533 a is slid.

A profile of a cross-section obtained by cutting the door guide 532 a bya plane that is perpendicular to the rotational direction may be curved,and the intermediate door 533 a may be slid along the door guide 532 a.The curved profile may have an arc shape. Accordingly, a center (“P” ofFIG. 1 ) of the profile of the door guide 532 a may be located in thesterilization space 31.

Because the intermediate door 533 a and the door guide 532 a are formedin this way, a height occupied by the intermediate door part 53 in thevertical direction may be reduced as compared with a case, in which thestanding intermediate door 533 a is opened and closed in the verticaldirection is used, and thus a size of the entire sterilizer 1 may bereduced.

The intermediate door part 53 may further include a door gear 5341 athat is rotated to transfer the driving force to the intermediate door533 a. The intermediate door 533 a may include a door plate that may beslid along the door guide 532 a to open and close the intermediateopening, and a plurality of enmeshing members 535 a that are engagedwith gear teeth of the door gear 5341 a to transfer the driving force tothe door plate. As the enmeshing members 535 a are pushed when the doorgear 5341 a is rotated, the door plate may be moved to adjustopening/closing of the intermediate opening.

The plurality of enmeshing members 535 a may be disposed at a specificinterval according to a profile in a cross-section obtained by cuttingthe door plate as in FIG. 16 . The enmeshing members 535 a may extend ina cylindrical shape along the rotational direction, and may be coupledto the door plate to be rotatable about the rotational direction.Accordingly, when the door gear 5341 a pushes out the enmeshing members535 a, the enmeshing members 535 a may be rotated by the force. In thisway, because the intermediate door 533 a includes the freely rotatableenmeshing members 535 a, wearing of the door gear 5341 a may be reducedas compared with a situation, in which the door plate is opened andclosed by using gear teeth.

The shape of the door gear 5341 a also may have a profile having acontinuous curve that is convex radially inwards to correspond to thecylindrical enmeshing members 535 a. The gear teeth of the door gear5341 a may be defined between concave valleys to correspond tocylindrical outer surfaces of the enmeshing members 535 a. The enmeshingmembers 535 a may be located in the concave valleys, and may be pressedby the gear teeth when the door gear 5341 a is rotated.

In other words, the gear teeth of the door gear 5341 a may be insertedinto spaces between two adjacent ones of the plurality of enmeshingmembers 535 a, and the door gear 5341 a may be rotated to apply a forceto any one of the two adjacent enmeshing members 535 a. Because alocation of the door gear 5341 a is fixed, the enmeshing members 535 aare pushed out by the door gear 5341 a, and the door plate connected tothe enmeshing members 535 a may be slid along the door guide 532 a.

The plurality of enmeshing members 535 a may be spaced apart from eachother leftwards and rightwards further to be disposed in areas that areadjacent to the left and right ends of the door plate. That is, theenmeshing members 535 a are not disposed over the entire area of thedoor plate as they go leftwards and rightwards, but may be disposed onlyin the areas that are adjacent to the left and right ends of the doorplate while the enmeshing members 535 a are not disposed at a centralportion of the door plate. Accordingly, because the door gear 5341 a isnot located at the central area of the intermediate opening but isdisposed adjacent to a periphery of the intermediate opening, it may nothinder entrance of the carriage “C” through the intermediate opening.

The door gear 5341 a may be rotated about the rotational direction. Thesterilizer 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure mayfurther include a door driving device 5343 a that generates the drivingforce for driving the intermediate door 533 a and is located outside thesterilization housing 32, and a door power transferring shaft 5342 athat transfers the driving force of the door driving device 5343 a tothe door gear 5341 a. The door power transferring shaft 5342 a also maybe rotated about the rotational direction, and thus the door gear 5341 aconnected thereto also may be rotated about the rotational direction.Accordingly, as the door gear 5341 a is rotated, a force is applied tothe enmeshing members 535 a in an arbitrary direction that isperpendicular to the rotational direction, and the door may be slid. Thedoor power transferring shaft 5342 a may pass through the sterilizationhousing 32, and may be connected to the door driving device 5343 a andthe door gear 5341 a to transfer the driving force generated by the doordriving device 5343 a to the door gear 5341 a. The door gear 5341 a, thedoor driving device 5343 a, and the door power transferring shaft 5342 amay be included in door driving assemblies 534 a and 344 b.

The intermediate door part 53 may further include an intermediatepacking 536 a. The intermediate packing 536 a is an element that isformed along a circumference of the door frame 531 a that defines theintermediate opening, and may be located between the door frame 531 aand the intermediate door 533 a to block a space between the door frame531 a and the intermediate door 533 a when the intermediate door 533 ais located at the closing location so as to maintain an airproof stateor a waterproof state. Accordingly, the intermediate packing 536 a mayhave a rectangular shape, a center of which is opened, when viewed froma front side, and may be formed of a flexible material to easilymaintain an airproof state or a waterproof state.

Shape of Housing 12

A shape of the housing 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1and 2 . The housing 12 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, as illustrated, may be formed such that a cross-sectionalarea thereof increases as it goes to the front side, in an area of thetemperature raising module 20. Then, the cross-sectional area may be across-sectional area obtained by cutting the housing 12 by a plane thatis perpendicular to the entrance direction D1. Furthermore, the housing12 may be formed such that a cross-sectional area thereof decreases asit goes from an area of the cooling space 41 to the front side.Furthermore, the housing 12 may be formed such that a cross-sectionalarea thereof is constant as it goes from an area of the sterilizationmodule 30 to the front side.

In more detail, a height of a lower end on an outer surface of thehousing 12 may be the same even though it goes to the front side, aheight of an upper end thereof may increase in an area of thetemperature raising module 20 as it goes to the front side, may decreasein an area of the cooling module 40, and may be constant in an area ofthe sterilization module 30. That is, a height of the shape of thehousing 12 viewed as in FIG. 1 may increase as it goes to a centerthereof, and may be maintained constantly when it is adjacent to thecenter.

The housing 12 may have an external appearance of a shape having avarying cross-section as described above not to have an unnecessaryinterior space. An inlet and an outlet of the housing 12 may be openedand closed by the inlet door part 51 and the outlet door part 52.

Meanwhile, among the housings 12, the sterilization housing 32, asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , may not have a hollow cylindrical shape,and may be formed as in another embodiment of FIG. 21 .

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the sterilization housing 32 accordingto another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to the drawing, the sterilization housing 32 according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure may have a cross (+) shapewhen viewed along a vertical direction. Accordingly, the sterilizationhousing 32 may include a front/rear housing 321 c that extends forwardsand rearwards, and a left/right housing 322 c that extends leftwards andrightwards, and the cross shape may be formed as the entrance directionhousing 321 c and the rotational direction housing 322 c may cross eachother to form the cross shape.

A leftward/rightward width of the rotation part frame may be larger thana leftward/rightward width of the sterilization movement part. This isbecause the sterilization movement part includes only a structure forfeeding the carriage “C” simply to the front side, whereas the rotationpart frame includes the carriage seating part for seating and feedingthe carriage “C”, and structures for rotating the carriage “C”.Accordingly, the rotation part and the sterilization movement part formthe cross shape when viewed from a top to a bottom, and thesterilization housing 32 c that surrounds them also may have a crossshape. An external appearance of the sterilization housing 32 c may havea cross shape as illustrated, and a shape of an inner surface thereofmay have a cross shape whereby the sterilization housing 32 c mayaccommodate the rotation part and the sterilization movement part, whichhave been described above.

The driving devices that generate driving forces, which have beendescribed in an embodiment of the present disclosure, may be motors thatgenerate rotational forces by using electric power or combustion enginesthat generate rotational forces by using fossil fuels. However, thekinds of the elements that constitute the driving devices are notlimited thereto.

Although it may have been described until now that all the elementsconstituting the embodiments of the present disclosure are coupled toone or coupled to be operated, the present disclosure is not essentiallylimited to the embodiments. That is, without departing from the purposeof the present disclosure, all the elements may be selectively coupledinto one or more elements to be operated. Furthermore, because theterms, such as “comprising”, “including”, or “having” may mean that thecorresponding element may be included unless there is a speciallycontradictory description, it should be construed that another elementis not extruded but may be further included. In addition, unless definedotherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientificterms, have the same meanings as those generally understood by thoseskilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. The terms,such as the terms defined in dictionaries, which are generally used,should be construed to coincide with the context meanings of the relatedtechnologies, and are not construed as ideal or excessively formalmeanings unless explicitly defined in the present disclosure.

The above description is a simple exemplification of the technicalspirits of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure may bevariously corrected and modified by those skilled in the art to whichthe present disclosure pertains without departing from the essentialfeatures of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the embodimentsdisclosed in the present disclosure is not provided to limit thetechnical spirits of the present disclosure but provided to describe thepresent disclosure, and the scope of the technical spirits of thepresent disclosure is not limited by the embodiments. Accordingly, thetechnical scope of the present disclosure should be construed by theattached claims, and all the technical spirits within the equivalentranges fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

1. A sterilizer comprising: a temperature raising module configured toheat a carriage that enters an interior thereof; a sterilization moduleconfigured to sterilize the carriage transferred from the temperatureraising module; a cooling module configured to cool the carriagetransferred from the sterilization module; and an opening/closing moduleconnected to the temperature raising module, the sterilization module,or the cooling module, and configured to selectively open and close atleast one thereof, wherein a space separated through the opening/closingmodule is independently heat-treated.
 2. The sterilizer of claim 1,wherein the temperature raising module includes a temperatureraising/heat-treating device configured to heat-treat the carriage byraising a temperature of the carriage to a sterilization temperaturethat is a predetermined temperature, wherein the sterilization moduleincludes a sterilization/heat-treating device configured to heat-treatthe carriage such that the temperature of the carriage is constantlymaintained at the sterilization temperature, and wherein the coolingmodule includes a cooling/heat-treating device configured to heat-treatthe carriage such that the carriage is cooled from the sterilizationtemperature.
 3. The sterilizer of claim 2, further comprising: amovement part configured to move the carriage between the modules. 4.The sterilizer of claim 3, wherein the movement part includes: a heatingmovement part disposed in an interior of the temperature raising module;and a sterilization movement part disposed in an interior of thesterilization module; and a cooling movement part disposed in aninterior of the cooling module, and wherein the heating movement part,the sterilization movement part, and the cooling movement part arespaced apart from each other forwardly and rearwardly.
 5. The sterilizerof claim 4, wherein the sterilization movement part includes: a firstconnection unit configured to receive the carriage from the temperatureraising module; and a second connection unit configured to receive thecarriage discharged from the first connection unit and transfer thecarriage to the cooling module.
 6. The sterilizer of claim 3, furthercomprising: a movement driving device disposed on an outside of ahousing that defines external appearances of the temperature raisingmodule, the sterilization module, and the cooling module, and configuredto generate a driving force that is to be used by the movement part; anda movement transferring unit configured to transfer the driving forcegenerated by the movement driving force to the movement part.
 7. Thesterilizer of claim 1, wherein the opening/closing module includes: aninlet door part configured to selectively open and close the temperatureraising module to and from an outside; an intermediate door partconfigured to selectively open and close the sterilization module to andfrom the temperature raising module or the cooling module; and an outletdoor part configured to selectively open and close the cooling module toand from the outside.
 8. The sterilizer of claim 7, wherein the inletdoor part includes: an inlet door configured to cover an inlet of thetemperature raising module when the inlet door is located at an inletclosing location for closing the inlet of the temperature raisingmodule; and an inlet contact member configured to make contact the inletdoor with the inlet of the temperature raising module by pushing theinlet door toward the inlet of the temperature raising module when theinlet door is located at the inlet closing location.
 9. The sterilizerof claim 7, wherein the inlet door part includes: an inlet doorconfigured to cover an inlet of the temperature raising module when theinlet door is located at an inlet closing location for closing the inletof the temperature raising module; and an inlet air-seal located on onesurface of the inlet door, which faces the temperature raising module,when the inlet door is located at the inlet closing location, andconfigured to be expanded as air is injected thereinto to contact thetemperature raising module so as to maintain a sealing state of aninterior of the temperature raising module.
 10. The sterilizer of claim2, wherein the sterilization/heat-treating device sprays a plurality ofmedia.
 11. The sterilizer of claim 2, wherein the cooling/heat-treatingdevice maintains the interior space at the sterilization temperaturewhen the carriage is transferred from the sterilization module.
 12. Thesterilizer of claim 1, wherein the sterilization module includes: arotation part configured to rotate the carriage.
 13. The sterilizer ofclaim 12, wherein the rotation part includes: a rotation part frameconfigured to receive the carriage and rotate the carriage about apredetermined rotation axis; a carriage seating part installed in therotation part frame and configured to support a lower surface of thecarriage; and a rotation gripping part installed in the rotation partframe, and configured to grip the carriage seated on the carriageseating part.
 14. The sterilizer of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectionalarea of the sterilization module is constant.
 15. The sterilizer ofclaim 1, wherein cross-sectional areas of the temperature raising moduleand the cooling module are smaller than or equal to a cross-sectionalarea of the sterilization module.